CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Petty Officer 1st Class Cody Finical, a native of Traer.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Petty Officer 1st Class Cody Finical, a native of Traer, Iowa, serves with Navy Medicine assigned to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Portsmouth, in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Finical graduated from North Tama Community School District in 2013.

The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Traer.

“Lessons I have learned from home are from Coach Boldt in school,” Finical said. “He gave me sort of a ‘Mamba Mentality. Mr. Terry Shay and Mr. Levi LaRue really believed in me when I was in a dark time and didn’t believe in myself. They helped pull out a creative side of me since Mr. Shay was the choir teacher and Mr. LaRue was the speech and English teacher.”

Finical joined the Navy 11 years ago. Today, Finical serves as a yeoman.

“My stepdad, Dan Blake, who passed away in 2017, and grandpa, Wayne Shedenhelm were the biggest influences on why I joined,” Finical said. “Dan served in the Navy aboard USS Simon Lake during Vietnam. My grandpa served during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They taught me how to be a man, take care of my family, and always put my wife first.”

NMRTC Portsmouth is Navy Medicine’s premier medical force generation platform. The command provides superior medical care to warfighters and their families, while maximizing readiness through the development of a skilled, adaptable and operational medical force prepared to meet the demands of the fight tonight.

Navy Medicine — represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals — provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.

The U.S. Navy is celebrating its 250th birthday this year.

According to Navy officials, “America is a maritime nation and for 250 years, America’s Warfighting Navy has sailed the globe in defense of freedom.”

With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.

Finical has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.

“My proudest accomplishment in the Navy would be graduating from Navy Drug and Alcohol Counselor School (NDACS),” Finical said. “I also ended with a peer-selected award for being a counselor that expressed the most growth while in school. The school made me change my perspective on things and learn how to help people.”

Finical serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.

“Serving in the Navy to me means having the opportunity to thrive and be challenged to my fullest capabilities,” Finical said. “It wasn’t until I graduated from NDACS that I fully understood the true meaning of service – to be a servant to others, to act as their steward and hold others to the highest regard, offering unconditional love, care, and support. That perspective has been the greatest reward I’ve received from my time in the Navy.”

Finical is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.

“I would like to thank my mom, Suzanne Enbrecht and dad, Matthew Finical, and stepmom, Cassie, and stepdad, Dan,” Finical said. “They’ve been an incredible part of my journey in the Navy. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their support, from hours spent on phone calls to the wisdom they’ve shared along the way. Each of them has played a huge role in helping me stay focused and motivated. Their care, love and support for both me and my wife, Angel, have been what helped get me through the daily grind of the Navy life, especially during the past few years with back-to-back deployments.”

“My plans for the future are to make chief,” Finical said. “I would like to do my drug and alcohol counselor job for the rest of my time in the Navy, until I retire.”